The Diamond Syndicate

As Betty entered the living room, Diamond raced down the steps and jumped into her father’s arms. Betty was outdone. She had told Diamond to stay in her room until she was called.

“Hey Pumpkin!” Chester planted kisses all over her cheeks.

“Mommy beat me,” she pouted, looking deep into Chester’s brown eyes with anguish.

Betty could see the thick vein begin to swell on the side of his neck and knew the rage was building.

Betty was terrified. “Diamond! Now you tell your father why I beat you!”

“Daddy, she beat me for no reason.” Her innocence continued to play on Chester’s heart.

“No! Chester, your daughter has gotten in the worst trouble at school today. She’s caused charges to be pressed against us for striking another child.” Betty did the best she could to get the story out before Chester could react.

She noticed that he was putting Diamond to the floor and she could see the scary, distant look in his eyes. It was as if he was staring right through her. She began to back away from him into the kitchen. Chester followed her slowly, not blinking once. He seemed like a trained robot out to kill.

“Chester, please just think about what I said. She’s gotten us into a lot of trouble, and it’s gonna cost us money. The boy’s parents is gonna press charges! Are you listening to me?”

But Chester never said a word. He continued to walk toward Betty with Diamond on his heels, peering around him at Betty.

Betty backed herself up against the refrigerator and immediately covered her face, expecting the blows to begin. Chester stood in front of her and didn’t throw one punch. By now Betty was crying. She knew he was standing in front of her, but she didn’t know why he hadn’t struck her.

When she lowered her arms some so that she could look at him, that’s when the hot oil and fried chicken from the skillet she’d just turned off came flying her way. She screamed in agony as the hot oil and fried chicken pieces singed her skin. Even Diamond had to

hide her face from the sight, and this was a first. Betty’s skin seemed to burn right off of her. The white meat underneath her dark skin became visible.

Betty fell to the floor, kicking and screaming as her skin burned. Diamond covered her ears but continued to watch her mother squirm. Chester however, stood over her and watched her suffer in pain.

Betty lay in the hospital for three weeks, healing from the burns and stewing about her mistreatment. She decided she had had enough of Chester and Diamond and their wicked ways. The day after she was released, after Diamond went to school and Chester went to work, Betty packed her bags and never returned.

***

As Diamond grew, Chester continued to school her on how to get whatever she wanted.

“Baby girl, you’re thirteen now, and I know these little niggas are gonna try to get in your drawers. I’m gonna give you something to help protect yourself with.” Chester walked into the dining room, reached into his coat pocket, and presented his daughter with a pearl-handled .22. “Only use this when necessary,” he told her.

Diamond’s eyes bulged at the sight. “Thanks, Daddy!” She threw her arms around her father’s neck and hugged him tight.

“I’m gonna show you how to use this.”

“OK.” She smiled, examining the gun.

“This is for them niggas that don’t take no for an answer. You haven’t let them get any of your coochie, have you?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, Daddy. I know better than that. Can’t none of these boys do nothing for me that I can’t do for myself, so if you give nothing, you get nothing,” she said with attitude.

“That’s my girl.” Chester smiled a proud smile. “Are those young punks tryna date you?”

“Yeah, they tryna be with me, but I do my schoolwork and ignore them little boys.” She waved her hand in dismissal, still gawking at the gun she held in her hand.

“Sit down, baby girl.” He patted the sofa. “Just because your mother walked out, I don’t want you to think she wasn’t a good mother. She was a damn good mother and wife. It’s just that, when it came to you, we didn’t agree on things. I don’t ever want you to think that it’s OK for a man to lay his hands on you. I know you saw me do that to your mother, but that ain’t cool, Diamond.” Chester looked deep into his daughter’s eyes. He was missing Betty so much, and looking into Diamond’s face reminded him of her.

He added, “If a man ain’t bringing nothing to the table, then he don’t need to sit down to eat. These young punks ain’t shit in this day and age. Use your brains and what I taught you, and you will go far in this world. Don’t accept anything less than perfect. If you gonna lay down with dogs, then you bound to get up with fleas. A flea is one of the lowest insects that feed on meat, biting and sucking blood from the living, just like a tick.”

Diamond nodded, giving her father her undivided attention. She knew she deserved to get whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, and no one could tell her anything different.

“Now, if you pull that thing out, then you better use it. That’s why I don’t want you to pull it out on no one unless it is an extreme emergency. You understand me?”

“Yes, Daddy, I promise.” She hugged him.